Carving and Serving eBook

Cantaloupes, if small, are sometimes served cut in
halves. If large, divide from end to end in nature’s
lines of depression.

THE THICKNESS OF SLICES.

By “very thin slices of meat” we mean
slices less than an eighth of an inch thick.

“Thin slices” are from one eighth of an
inch to three sixteenths of an inch in thickness.

Slices of “medium thickness” are one quarter
of an inch.

Bread for dinner should be cut in slices one inch
and a half thick, and each slice should be divided
across into three or four long pieces, according to
the width of the slice.

For tea, cut slices three eighths of an inch thick,
and for toast, one quarter of an inch.

Thick loaves of cake should be cut in slices from
three fourths of an inch to an inch thick, and divided
once. Cut loaves of medium thickness in pieces
as broad as the cake is thick, and divide them once.
Thin sheets of cake should be cut in rectangular pieces
twice as broad as the cake is thick. Then divide
once, or even twice, if the sheet be very wide.
Layer cakes baked in round pans are usually divided
into triangular pieces; but they are less suggestive
of baker’s Washington pie, which is so offensively
common, if the edges be trimmed in such a way as to
leave a square. Then cut this square into smaller
squares or rectangles.

UTENSILS FOR CARVING AND SERVING.

In any first-class cutlery store you will find knives
for each special kind of carving. If your purse
will permit the indulgence, it will be convenient
to have a breakfast-carver, a slicer, a jointer, a
game-carver, and a pair of game-scissors. But
if you can afford to have only one, you will find
a medium-sized meat-carver the knife best adapted
to all varieties of carving. The blade should
be about nine inches long and one inch and a quarter
wide, slightly curved, and tapering to a point.

The fork should have two slender curving tines about
three eighths of an inch apart and two and a half
inches long, and should have a guard.

A breakfast or steak carver is of the same general
shape, but the handle is smaller, and the blade is
six or seven inches long. A slicer for roasts
has a wide, straight blade, twelve inches long, and
rounded instead of pointed at the end. This is
especially convenient for carving thin slices from
any large roasts, or other varieties of solid meat.
The width of the blade helps to steady the meat, and
its great length enables one to cut with a single,
long, smooth stroke through the entire surface.
With a knife having a short blade a sort of sawing
motion would be made, and the slice would be jagged.
As there are no joints to separate, a point on the
blade is unnecessary.

A jointer is another form of carver, useful where
the joints are so large or so difficult to separate
that considerable strength is required. The handle
has a crook or guard on the end to enable the carver
to grasp it more securely and use all the strength
necessary.